Post-card rack.



e. HONIG.

POST CARD RACK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I8, 1915.

A Patented Jan. 4, 1916. f y/ 1 24 I I 2|- i I 12 I l 1; I 1.

WITNESSES H Gustav onig- COLUMBIA PMNOGRAPH (10-, WASHINGTON, D. c.

momrs zTjED STT GUSTAV Home, or ALICE, TEXAS.

Posr-oAnn RAoK;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 18, 1915. Serial No. 15,266.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GUSTAV HONIG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Alice, in the county of Jim Wells and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Post-Card'Rack, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to display devices and has particular reference to racks for supporting and displaying commodities for sale.

More definitely stated, the device comprises a rotary holder or rack mounted for rotation around a vertical axis and including a skirt-like outer wall made of flexible material folded or plaited so as to form circumferentially arranged pockets into which the lower ends of a large quantity of post cards or the like may be inserted and supported in connection with certain other elements of the structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure which is adapted to be folded or collapsed so as to occupy the minimum amount of space when not in use for display purposes.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed andillu'strated in the drawings forming a part of this specification in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same on the line 2+2 of Fig. 4:; Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to the main portion of Fig. 2 but indicating the rack in folded position; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device as shown in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 5 is a plan view corresponding to Fig. 8; Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of a part of the skirt portion of the device as viewed substantially from the plane indicated by the line 66 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of a detail on the line 7-7 of The several parts of this device "may be made of any suitable materials, and the relative sizes and proportions of the same,as well as the general mechanism, may be varied to a considerable extent without departing from the spirit of the invention hereinafter more fully described and specifically claimed.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I show any suitable form of base 10 supporting a vertical socket piece 11 in which is journaled a center post 12 for rotation around a vertical axis.

Surrounding the post 12is what I term the skirt portion 13 of my improvement, the skirt including a tubular arrangement of a PatentedJan. 4, 1916.

strip of flexible material 14 of a circumferencecorresponding to the desired size of the display portion of the rack or skirt and of a width from top to bottom enough greater than the vertical length of the skirt in finished form to provide for a number of plaits or folds as shown at 15. The device illustrated shows the flexible portion of. the skirt 14: provided around its lower end or -margin with an outwardly and upwardly turned open-topped fold or plait 15 above which are shown four pockets or plaits of the same character parallel to the-bottom pocket and preferably equi-distant from one another.

The, flexible member 14 is supported by and between pairs of slats 16 and 17 where by the skirt portion is divided into vertical panels shown herein as eight in number.

The slats 16 and 17 of each pair are rigidly secured opposite each other on the outside and inside respectively of the skirt and serve .to maintain the folds 15 and 15 in fixed position or form. As will be noted especially in Figs. (Sand 7, I employ any The cords 19 define the folds or plaits 15 and 15 aforesaid. 7

At 20 I-show cords or thelike surrounding the skirt and connected preferably to all of the outer slats 16 as by means of staples or screw eyes 21. These cords 20 serve two principal purposes; namely, first, as an'auxiliary strengthening and reinforcing means for the skirt when in extended and supporting position, and, secondly, as a supporting means for the cards or other articles being displayed whose lower ends are seated in the pockets immediately below such cords. In other words, post cards, for example, in large quantities, may be supported in bundles or groups along the several vertical panels of the skirt, each card or group of cards being supported at their lower ends in any plait or pocket and having their upper ends extended freely between the cord 20 and the main portion of the skirt next above such supporting pocket or plait.

Any suitable means may be provided to support the skirt upon the post 12 as a main support for the display apparatus. The means I prefer to employ for this purpose comprises a series of links 22 adjacent the top and a series of links 23 adjacent the bottom of the skirt, all of said links being pivotally connected at their inner ends at 2 k to the post and at their outer ends at 25 to the inner slats 17 I prefer to use two of the links 22 and 23 for each pair of slats. I also provide a series of braces 26 pivotally connected at 27 at their upper ends to the post and having detachable connection at their lower ends in screw eyes 28 or the like, the lower ends of the braces being formed into hooks, although as to the particular means for attaching the braces at their lower ends to the skirt I do not wish to be unnecessarily limited. The braces are so constructed and designed with respect to length and position that when the skirt is extended for display purposes, the links 22 and 23 will all extend outwardly radially from the post substantially in perpendicular lines thereto, putting the flexible portion of the skirt under a substantial amount of tension or stretch. Obviously, when the device is to be collapsed and put away to occupy a small amount of space, upon releasing the hooks from the eyes 28, the braces 26 will drop down parallel to the post, allowing the links 22 and 23 also to drop downwardly in parallelism to each other and substantially against the post, as shown in Fig. 3. The portion 14 of the skirt being flexible and all connecting parts between the parallel pairs of slats 16 and 17 also being flexible, the device collapses, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, somewhat like the folding of an umbrella. The device, therefore, occupies a very small amount of space and when folded is not subjected to the danger of being damaged.

I claim:

1. The herein described display device comprising a tubular skirt portion including a fabric member formed circumferentially into a plurality of plaits or pockets and ineluding also a series of pairs of slats secured to the fabric portion to maintain the plaits in form, means cooperating with the plaits to support articles for display on the outside of the skirt, and means to support said skirt in display position.

2. In a device of the kind set forth, the combination of a tubular member formed of flexible sheet material and plaited to form a series of parallel pockets in horizontal planes with their upwardly directed openings on the outside, means to maintain said pockets in holding position, and a member surrounding and spaced outwardly from said flexible member above each pocket for supporting the upper ends of articles seated at their lower ends in such pocket.

3. In a display device, the combination of a tubular member made of flexible sheet material and formed into a series of horizontal parallel pockets having their openings extending upwardly on the outside of the member, a series of retaining devices, one for each pocket and located above the same and spaced outwardly from said flexible member, vertical rigid members maintaining said pockets and retaining devices in definite relation to one another, and means for supporting said flexible member and said vertical rigid members. 7

4:. In a post card display apparatus, the combination of a base, a vertical post supported in said base, a collapsible skirt surrounding the post and composed of a tubular flexible member folded to form parallel pockets in horizontal planes and also including vertical rigid slats holding said pockets in definite position, a plurality of links pivoted at their inner ends to said post and at their outer ends to said slats and adapted to extend radially from the post in horizontal directions, and a series of diagonally arranged braces pivotally connected at their upper ends to said post and having detachable hooked connection at their lower ends to said slats, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAV HONIG.

Witnesses:

W. L. REYNoLDs', C. O. MALEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

